Trichlorosilane can be produced by hydrogenating silicon tetrachloride according to the following reaction scheme:Si+2H2+3SiCl4→4HSiCl3  (1)
Reaction scheme (1) is typically performed at high pressures, between about 250 psig and 500 psig, and at a reaction temperature in a range of from about 500° C. to about 550° C.
Trichlorosilane can also be produced by hydrochlorinating silicon according to the following reaction scheme:3HCl+Si→HSiCl3+H2  (2)
Reaction scheme (2) is typically performed at lower pressures, about 50 psig, and at a reaction temperature in a range of from about 300° C. to about 350° C.